With the ever increasing global demand for housing, there is increasing interest in prefabricated dwellings that can be manufactured in a controlled factory environment, and quickly assembled or installed on site as required. However, consumers typically have high expectations of dwelling quality, especially in developed countries, where prefabricated dwellings must compete with traditional construction methods. A disadvantage of many existing prefabricated construction techniques is that the finished product reflects an overall level of quality which is perceived by end consumers to be inferior to conventional construction methods. In addition prefabrication techniques do not typically lend themselves to design variations to cater for the stylistic preferences of the consumer.
Shipping containers have been converted into dwellings in the past. Containers are an ideal building block for prefabricated dwelling construction, given that the containers are readily transportable, and internationally available in large quantities. However, a disadvantage with using shipping containers to manufacture dwellings is that the walls of the containers are typically not constructed to particularly fine tolerances and over time the alignment of the walls are affected by continual knocks and bangs. This makes the accurate mounting of cladding onto the container difficult and time consuming. To date most shipping container dwelling conversions have shown a very low quality of overall appearance and finishes.
The application of cladding to a structure is typically a permanent addition. Accordingly, it is generally not possible to readily remove or replace the cladding without incurring considerable expenses on account of labour and the materials required.